


Rooftops

by Merixcil



Series: BatCat Week 2017 [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Catwoman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bruce is very awkward, Established Relationship, F/M, Flirting, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:14:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24944431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merixcil/pseuds/Merixcil
Summary: Selina catches Bruce on the way to a job and persuades him to let her tag along
Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Series: BatCat Week 2017 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805317
Kudos: 9





	Rooftops

"Do you remember the first time you fell?"

Selina doesn't have to look at Bruce to know how hard set his jaw is, teeth clenched to fight the tide of words she knows is swelling inside him. If she'd asked him when they were still wrapped around each other, stripped of their civvies, he would have talked. Post-sex is the best time to get anything out of him. 

Dressed in his working gear with the city spread out below him is about the worst time to ask him to be honest. Bruce grunts in irritation and the lights wink up at him. These streets know his secrets, all of them, even if no one else ever will. 

Selina doesn't know all his secrets, not yet. It doesn't trouble her, she has an extensive back catalogue of her own. Things the Batman doesn't know and can't kill him. She wants to tell him everything, but if he's paranoid then what does that make her? She still needs time. She'll get there. They both need to be patient. 

"I don't fall." Bruce tells her in his best Batman voice. It's a lot less intimidating now she knows how he does it. It's nothing fancy, he just drops his voice and lets it all pour out of him, slipping in a slight Gotham twang that hides the upper class neutrality of his civilian voice. 

He's lying. She's seen him fall, but if he's not ready to talk about it more fool her to press the issue. It's just Batman talking, after all, and what good would Batman be if he fell?

It's funny how a lifetime spent running over these rooftops will erase your appreciation for the power of gravity. The building their on right now, a ten story office block in lower midtown, doesn't feel high to Selina, certainly not tall enough to cause any damage should she slip off the edge. If she were to test that critical error in her thinking, she would be dead from the g force before she hit the street below. 

Selina used to fall off shipping containers down by the ports, when she was small enough to still let someone play parent to her and being out after dark required her to sneak out of whichever abandoned building they were sleeping in that week. Learning how to run through Gotham on her own two feet has been a lifetime in the making, but back then she was learning the first and most important lesson around sprained ankles and the occasional broken finger - how you stick the landing is more important than how far you learn to fly. 

She leans backwards till she's pressed against Bruce's side, arching into him and smiling up at the plastic eyes of the cowl. He doesn't flinch. Selina almost laughs. "Alright, big guy. Where to tonight?"

"I can handle this myself."

"I'm not about to suggest you need help doing anything. But if you wanted the company, I'm already out."

He tips his head ever so slightly, looking down at her and weighing his options. Batman doesn't want to enjoy anyone's company, but Bruce is awfully good at setting himself rules he can't follow. 

Rising onto the balls of her feet, Selina runs a hand along Bruce's shoulder, leaning in close to whisper in his ear. "Look at me, all dressed up with nowhere to go."

He gives her a look that isn't really anything but by Batman's standards could pass as despairing. "I shouldn't."

She's already won.

"Ok then." Selina falls back, prowling away from him without breaking eye contact. "You know, there's this new jewellery store in the diamond district, just past Smith Street. I've been dying to check it out. You won't mind if I stick my nose round the door after hours, right?"

"Selina-" Bruce forgets himself and his voice slips up an octave. He almost sounds like himself. 

Selina grins wicked. "Yes, _Bruce_?"

His shoulders slump fractionally in defeat. "Maroni's men have been making moves at the East End ports and there's a large arms shipment set to come in this week that I'm pretty sure they're going to try to divert. I'll be on stakeout, it won't be fun."

"I'm not marrying you for fun."

The grapple is in Bruce's hand in an instant. He jerks his head, indicating that Selina should follow him. Before she can breathe he's let the line spring free and has slipped up into the still night air. The cape fans out behind him as he goes, slowing his rise over the patchwork of neon rising up from below.

Two can play at that game. Once upon a time it would have taken Selina all night to catch up to him, but Bruce is deliciously soft when she wants him to be. She goes for her own grapple, smaller than his so that it can clip to her hip without ruining the line of her work suit but as effective as the Batman's. She aims for the highest point she can see, shooting straight past the hole in the overcast skies where the moon should be. It catches against the lip of a windowsill and holds fast. She presses the button to retract the line and goes soaring up over the rooftops. 

None of them look high enough to hurt her should she fall. She couldn't fall if she tried. 

When she comes in to land, Bruce is waiting for her, smiling. "I see you're getting the hang of the grapple."

Selina looks to the skyline, searching for her next target. "I put that down to the years I spent watching your ass disappear on me with one of these things."

She reaches round to give Bruce's buttocks a cursory squeeze and barely has time to appreciate his yelp of surprise before she takes off, up into the night, knowing he'll be following right behind her. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted as part of a multi chaptered 'BatCat Week 2017' fic that I'm trying to split up. If you think you've read it before, you probably have
> 
> Comments on the previous posting of this fic (just ask if you want me to remove yours) include:
> 
> > ava_jamison: This is wonderful! I love their relationship, here. Well done.  
> >>Merixcil: Thank you so much!
> 
> >caustic: I love this so much!!!--how Selina teases him/knows him, it's really cute and gentle:) And I love the detail about Batman's Gotham accent, so good.  
> >>Merixcil: Thank you!! :)
> 
> >Dhivahari: OH MY GOD PLEASE WRITE MORE. READING THIS IS SO SELF-INDULGENT  
> >>Merixcil: I'm here all week ;)
> 
> >thegladelf: The line about Bruce and rules. Oh my gosh. And "I'm not marrying you for fun"! I'm dead. This is fantastic.  
> >>Merixcil: Thank you so much!


End file.
